Snowblind
by FireApe
Summary: Toph gets lost at the North Pole after a heated argument with Katara. What will the waterbender do to earn Toph's forgiveness and will it even work? FINAL CHAPTER UPLOADED!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hi all! I'm trying to keep the characters as canon as possible, please let me know if you think something is off. I love any and all reviews! And, as a necessary disclaimer, I do not own any characters or settings in this story.

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It had been about one year since Firelord Ozai's downfall. Many would have expected the world to fall into an era of relative peace, but those assumptions were far from the truth. Those who had supported Ozai did not take kindly to Zuko being crowned as their new Firelord. Assassination attempts were many. Bands of Ozai's followers spread throughout the world in attempts of converting others to their cause and creating as much mayhem as possible.

Fortunately, Firelord Zuko had powerful allies, and his allies had powerful allies. It took nearly eight months, but many of the rebellious groups had been vanquished. The work now turned to rebuilding the war-torn and scarred world that had been left behind in his father's wake. It was a monstrous group effort. When his political duties allowed (or required) it, Zuko traveled with his old companions, which some citizens, to Sokka's extreme delight, had dubbed Team Avatar. This trip to the North Pole was one of diplomatic importance and he was glad to be traveling with his old friends once more.

Much to his dismay, once the group arrived it was nothing but meeting after meeting. Between the Firelord and the Avatar, they were all much desired guests at both political meetings and important social gatherings. There had been little time to catch up with his old friends.

His friends, however, had all been traveling together for a much longer time and it seemed as if it was starting to take its toll. Katara had been distant and moody and Toph became more irritable as the group neared the North Pole. Everyone needed a break from all the traveling and diplomacy but, unfortunately, they were not getting a break any time soon.

There was an important meeting that all of them were requested to attend. Having other matters to discuss with Chief Arnook, Zuko arrived a few hours early, leaving his companions to their own whims.

Sokka and Aang were getting a few moments of much needed relaxation in the upscale villa they had been provided. Aang and Zuko, being as important as they were, had been granted their own private quarters but the entire group took to socializing with each other in the space shared by Sokka, Katara and Toph. Katara and Toph were out exploring the city. Rather, Katara was exploring and Toph was following closely behind since she was completely blind in and around the city due to the lack of earth in the icy pole.

Sokka, clothed in the warm attire necessary for comfort in the North Pole, was sprawled out haphazardly on a plush couch. He stared at the ceiling with dull, bored eyes, mindlessly stroking his newly acquired chin hairs with the corner of his boomerang. Despite having searched mercilessly, Sokka had never found his original boomerang or his beloved space sword after the big battle the year before. Toph had made him a new one, which he liked, but it just wasn't the same as his old one.

"Hey, Aang? Do you think Suki will like my goatee?" he asked ponderously.

"Mmrmph." Lying face-down on the floor, definitely not the most dignified position for the Avatar, this was the most that Sokka heard out of the boy. Aang was exhausted from having to be so diplomatic and proper all the time. He savored these moments when he could relax.

Sokka nodded appreciatively as if that had been the answer he had been looking for. "I think she'll like it, too. Maybe I should even grow a beard," he contemplated thoughtfully.

Aang rolled over and was greeted by Momo gliding over to land on his forehead. The lemur cocked his head to one side and tentatively poked the tip of Aang's nose with a finger. Smiling, Aang brushed the lemur away. "I think a beard would be a bit much, Sokka," he said in an awkward-sounding voice, jumping pitch in the middle of the sentence. He cleared his throat in frustration. He was getting to the embarrassing point in every man's life where his voice hardly stayed the same. It was mortifying when he was trying to give a diplomatic speech to important world leaders and his voice cracked. However embarrassed it made him it did always seem to break the tension in others.

Ignoring the voice-crack (Sokka understood how the boy felt and never teased him about it… the same could not be said for others in the party, mostly Toph), Sokka nodded once again. "Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, maybe you should think about—"

But what Sokka thought Aang should think about went unsaid as the door burst open, admitting Katara into the room. Both boys turned to look at her and noticed immediately that something was wrong. For one, Katara's eyes were red and moist looking. Secondly, Toph was not behind her.

"…what's wrong?" asked Aang tentatively, sitting up on the floor to look at the waterbender in front of him. He could hear Sokka move to a sitting position behind him as well.

"Toph's gone," answered Katara, not meeting either of their gazes.

Knowing that Toph wouldn't just go wandering about on her own in this place, Sokka assumed there had been a fight. He was instantly angry with Katara; she should know better by now to not argue with Toph, especially if the girl ended up walking off in a place where she couldn't see anything!

"What did you _say_ to her, Katara?" he demanded as he got to his feet, knowing already that this was about to turn into a rescue mission.

"I didn't _mean _it! I- I was angry and it just came out and then she just stormed off. I tried to follow and apologize to her, but she yelled at me to leave her alone. Now I can't find her and I'm worried that she might be lost," she finished, looking down at the ground in shame. She knew that she shouldn't have blown up at Toph, knew that she shouldn't have brought up how helpless she was here at the North Pole, knew that she shouldn't have let the blind girl wander off into the icy wilderness. She knew that. But she couldn't change anything now.

Sokka huffed through his nose, giving his younger sister a deadly glare. "I can't believe you, Katara!" he scolded. He turned and grabbed a backpack and began angrily shoving basic supplies into it, mostly blankets and some food. "Angry or not, you shouldn't have let her go out there by herself. There's no earth around here anywhere, she can't see a damn thing!"

"I _know _that, Sokka! And I'm sorry! I'll go with you to-"

"No," he said, maybe a little too harshly. "You've caused enough problems already. Aang and I will go out and look for her. I can track her footprints and Aang can use his glider to search from the air," he said, glancing over at Aang to make sure he approved of this plan. The avatar got to his feet and gave a couple of solemn nods showing that he was on board.

Sokka turned to look back at Katara. He could tell that she was worried and she really regretted whatever she had said to make Toph so angry. He softened his gaze, knowing that being angry with her wasn't helping anything. "We'll find her, Katara. You go ahead to the meeting and apologize to the Chief and Zuko that we can't be there."

Aang stepped forward and placed a gloved hand comfortingly on Katara's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be back with Toph soon. She couldn't have gone far," he reassured her, thankful that his voice stayed in one place.

Katara gave the two boys a small nod. "Just get back soon." She glanced at them one last time before heading out the door and toward the palace where post-war negotiations were taking place between Chief Arnook and Firelord Zuko.

Once she had left, Sokka turned to look at Aang. It suddenly occurred to him just how much the young boy had matured since their first meeting. Since defeating the Fire Lord the year before and becoming the savior of the world, it seemed like the boy had now matured even more beyond his years. Sokka often forgot that the boy was only thirteen years old most of the time. But he supposed that when you are the Avatar, you don't get a chance to act your age. When you aren't arranging peace talks, you were organizing and participating in search and rescue missions.

So much for their relaxing afternoon.

"You ready to head out?" he asked, slinging the backpack over his shoulder and pulling his hood up to keep his head warm in the freezing wilderness.

Aang nodded, staff in hand, and pulled up his hood as well. "Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hello again! I'm hoping you are enjoying the story so far. I would really appreciate any and all reviews -good, bad, random- they all make me happy! Let me know what you think!

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Looking back at the situation, Toph decided that stalking off into the icy nothingness of the North Pole in a fit of anger was probably not her best idea ever. She was blind out here, in every sense of the word. The entire pole was nothing but ice. Thick, solid, earth-less ice. Things weren't so bad inside the city when she had her friends to lead her around (though she refused to let them hold on to her like a helpless baby… she needed to keep as much dignity as possible in this awful place).

But now she had no one. Katara had left her. Honestly, though, she had been the one to leave Katara first. Toph _had _walked away from Katara. And for good reason, too!

"_Toph, wait, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry!"_

"_No! You _did _mean it," she declared, turning and stabbing an accusing finger at her on the second word for emphasis. "I'm apparently nothing but useless baggage and I have no point in even being here," she had spat, repeating Katara's words from a moment ago. "I get it. If you don't want me here, I'll just leave. Anything to make _you _happy, because it's always all about _you_."_

"_Toph!"_

Angry, Toph had ignored her and continued taking small, shuffling steps away from the other girl. That was when Katara finally gave up and turned back to the city.

Technicalities of who left whom aside, she was out in the middle of nowhere by herself. She had turned herself around so many times that she had no idea which way the city was. Terrifyingly, she also had no idea where the open ocean was or at what point the ice beneath her feet would give way into water. Sure, she could hear the water as it gently –menacingly, Toph thought—lapped at the edges of the ice shelf, but that wasn't a good guide as to where the edge of the ice was.

Being out here alone meant she had no way to get help. She knew one of her friends would find her eventually, but Toph was not looking forward to that moment. She did not approve of being the damsel in distress. This was one of the most embarrassing situations she had ever gotten herself into.

On the upside, Toph was learning to really _listen _to her surroundings. She'd never had to rely solely on sound before; she always had her earthbending to tell her everything she ever needed to know. She had started _really_ paying attention to the sounds around her when she lost her footing shortly after being out on her own and her leg slipped into the ice-cold ocean. Toph was just glad that she'd been able to scurry away from the edge before the rest of her body fell in. If she did fall in, there would be no one to save her. She shuddered at the thought and moved further away from where she thought the water was.

Sounds didn't help her with vertical obstacles, however. Twice already she had walked straight into icy cliffs. They weren't smooth like a wall and had all sorts of bumps and protrusions and sharp edges. Her cheekbone was tender, telling her that she had a nice bruise forming under the skin, and she was pretty sure she had a small cut on her forehead. At least she would have some sort of souvenir for this lovely adventure.

After awhile, Toph had decided to try to retrace her steps and head closer to where she thought the city was. Unfortunately, she had gotten turned around a couple of times and just ended up scuffling further away. She kept trying to be optimistic, but one thing was really bothering her.

_It's been at least two hours and no one has come looking for me_, she thought dully. Was Katara so upset with her that she would just let her stay out here? No, she wouldn't do that. However much of an ice-bitch she could be sometimes, Katara would never leave her out here by herself for so long. _But she has, _she thought bitterly._ She's left me out here. She's so wrapped up in being Katara that she's left me here._

Toph rubbed her cheek as she felt a hot, angry tear leak out of her eye. No, she wasn't going to cry. She wouldn't give Katara the satisfaction. Someone would come get her and take her back to the city. And when they did she was going to rip Katara into pieces.


	3. Chapter 3

The door to the meeting hall opened gingerly as the guards allowed Katara to enter. The eyes of those in attendance (Chief Arnook, Zuko, and a handful of the chief's advisors) all turned to her. The meeting had obviously already started and she was late. Great.

"Ah, Katara, thank you for arriving," said the chief in a tone that was both welcoming and reprimanding at the same time. "Where are the others?" he questioned as Katara walked forward to take a seat.

"They uhm… there was an… emergency that needed to be taken care of," she answered, working hard to keep her voice under control. She thought she did a very good job, though she did notice a questioning glance from Zuko. She gave him an 'I'll explain later' look before turning back to the chief. "They all send their apologies and hope to arrive later."

The chief, obviously disappointed that half of his guests failed to arrive for this important meeting, simply nodded. "I hope the situation is resolved shortly; we have some very important things to discuss with the Avatar." He adjusted himself in his seat and cleared his throat. "We had just gotten introductions out of the way. I daresay you remember most, if not all, of my advisors here from your last visit?" he asked.

Katara looked to all of the faces around the table. Indeed, many were familiar from the previous visits she had made to the North Pole during the last year. There were a couple of faces she didn't recognize, though. Oh well… she was sure she would learn them sooner or later. No need to take up more time now. She gave the chief a nod and he proceeded with the meeting.

Through all of the talk of trade agreements and trade routes, Katara had a difficult time paying attention. Sure, she knew this was important. This was what was rebuilding the safety and security. The North Pole used to be a hub of international trading. When the war started, however, the city put up huge walls and all trading stopped. Now that the war was over the walls surrounding the city had been removed and trade was starting back up again.

All Katara could think about was her argument with Toph. They both had their share of nasty words exchanged during the argument, but Katara's had been downright uncalled for and rude. She saw the hurt in Toph's eyes as she continually berated her for no reason, but Katara hadn't been able to stop herself once she had started.

"_Your problem is that you are so self-centered that all you care about is what makes _you_ happy! You haven't even stopped to think about how hard all of this is for—"_

"_Oh, _I'm _self-centered? Listen to you!" She started speaking in a mocking tone. "Oh, look at me, I'm blind, I can't see. Walk slower; I can't keep up because I'm _blind_. I need to hold someone's hand just to go to the bathroom. I can't do anything by myself." She had stopped here, shaking her head and laughing mockingly. "Do you know how sad and pathetic you are? You knew we were coming up here where you can't see or do anything. You're a useless and unnecessary weight just slowing the rest of us down! You should have just stayed home!"_

Looking back on it, Katara felt sick to her stomach at the things she had said. She fervently hoped the girl was okay. She would never be able to forgive herself if something happened. If she was found – _no, _when_ she is found _she mentally substituted – she would have to do everything in her power to apologize and hope that Toph would forgive her.

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**A/N: I will give hugs and loves to any and all reviews! Please? They make me happy!**


	4. Chapter 4

After quickly surveying the ground from the air, Aang dropped gently next to Sokka. "I saw some clear footprints in the snow up ahead that are heading east," he announced to the older boy. "Didn't see her, but I figured that would be a good start." The area immediately around the city had snow that was very compacted and so it didn't leave any tracks. Further away, however, where the snow was softer, it was much easier to see any footprints left behind. Aang was just glad that it wasn't snowing; that would make finding Toph a lot more difficult since it would cover up any tracks.

Sokka nodded and the two of them began trudging in the indicated direction. It was late afternoon. In a couple of more hours, the sun would go down and it would get very cold outside. Not that it wasn't already cold, but it would get much colder. While Sokka may have been used to the weather, Toph definitely was not. They needed to find her before it got dark.

"What do you suppose they were arguing about this time?" asked Aang, keeping his eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of their friend. His eyes also glanced at the surface of the ocean, just in case.

Sokka sighed dramatically and shook his head. "I don't know. It's hard to tell. Katara's been so moody lately to begin with. Not to mention that she and Toph are both stubborn as cowmules… it could've been anything." He and his sister had been arguing a lot more than usual and he couldn't figure out why she was so high-strung.

"Yeah, I've noticed that Katara's been a little… off," agreed Aang, furrowing his brows. She had been a lot snappier lately. Then again, maybe Aang was just catching her on bad days. He didn't get to spend a lot of time with her with all of this post-war cleanup going on. Every time he had wanted to have a quiet moment to ask what has been bothering her something else would always come up.

Sokka gave Aang a sidelong glance. "You uhh… got any clue why?" he asked casually. Aang had been dating his sister for the better part of the last year and, while Sokka accepted it and was okay with the relationship, he was still protective and didn't like to think about what went on when the two of them were alone. That and if Aang was the cause of Katara's moodiness for any reason then he was going to have to have a sit-down with the Avatar and give him the whole 'hurt my sister and die' conversation.

Aang shook his head. "I don't. I've been so busy with… all this Avatar stuff. It's been a long time since I've been able to just sit and spend any time with her," he admitted. The hurt and guilt was obvious in his voice. Was there something wrong with her that he had failed to notice because the rest of the world had been so demanding?

Hearing the honesty in Aang's voice, Sokka decided to drop the subject. "Well… it's probably just crazy girl stuff. You know how they are," shrugged Sokka. Girls were impossible to deal with, they both knew that. Granted, he didn't have a lot of problems with Suki. However, he was always off doing this or that and she was often off on her own or doing some mission with the other Kyoshi Warriors. They were rarely in the same place for more than a couple of days when they were able to get together. He had never stopped to think about how that wasn't exactly an ideal relationship.

That's when Sokka spotted a clear set of footprints heading toward a small wall of ice. "Look, there!" They both ran over to the tracks. Sokka inspected them. They ran right into the wall and the extra, frenzied tracks in the same spot indicated that Toph had run into the wall of ice as well. "I'll bet that hurt…" he muttered, following the tracks around the wall where they continued onward, veering left for awhile before turning a bit to the right. Sokka felt horrible at how lost she must feel.

"Now that we've got some idea of where she headed, I'll fly ahead and see if I can find her," announced Aang. He adjusted his warm gloves so he would have a better grip before opening up his glider and taking off in a small gust of wind, flying about ten feet above the ground to keep the tracks in sight.

Sokka jogged forward as he followed the tracks, intent on getting to Toph before the frigid night air did.

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**A/N: I will love you forever if you leave reviews/comments! They will help me make the story better!**


	5. Chapter 5

Since she had plenty of time to think, Toph was musing on whether or not she should forgive Katara once all of this was over with. She knew she probably would end up letting her off the hook, but not without making her suffer. Oh, she needed to suffer big time. Toph normally didn't let words get to her, they were just words, but Katara's insinuation that she was completely and utterly _useless _and that she was just being a burden on everyone else… it hurt. Toph knew she wasn't useless. She was the best damn earthbender in the whole world after all! She was the one who _invented _metelbending! She wasn't useless. Her parents had always treated her like she was useless, like she had been a hindrance on their perfect lives, and she couldn't stand that.

"I am _not _useless," she muttered angrily to herself, as if saying it aloud would make her feel better. It didn't have the intended effect. She was blind, not useless. There was a difference. The fact that her so-called friend was accusing her of such, after _everything _they had been through was just so irritating and demoralizing.

Toph heaved a heavy sigh. Moping was getting her nowhere. Tired of feeling sorry for herself, Toph began trying to find some way out of this mess. She stood still for a few moments thinking, trying to come up with any sort of plan. If only there was some earth around! Even if there was some hidden in the ice…

She had an idea. Toph sat down ungracefully and wrestled to get the snow-boot off her foot. Maybe out here, far from the city, earth deposits would have found their way into the ice through the ocean. She had no idea what she would do if she found some, but it would be comforting at least. She took a breath to prepare herself before slamming her foot onto the snow-covered ice. Toph ignored the cold and focused on trying to find something. Anything.

But there was nothing.

Not ready to give up, she tore off the other boot and stood up, planting both feet firmly in the snow. Toph concentrated, sliding her feet around, stomping on the ground, doing anything to send vibrations that she hoped would come into contact with grains of dirt or tiny rocks. She walked around for a good ten minutes, taking heavy steps. Her feet were starting to become numb from slamming them into the ice so much. But she was determined. There just _had _to be some. She could almost feel something, tiny objects trapped in the ice.

But no sign of any earth.

"UGH!" Toph threw her boots away in front of her in frustration and, upon hearing them splash in the ocean, immediately regretted the action.

"No no no no no!" she cried, dropping down to her knees and slowly crawling her way to the direction she had thrown her boots. She felt the edge the ice and tentatively reached out her hand, blindingly fishing for her boots. Tears of frustration were now streaming down her face as she continued to swish her arm through the freezing water in a hopeless attempt at regaining her boots. While she hated wearing the stupid things, they were essential to keep her precious feet from freezing off. And she had just thrown them into the ocean.

She sat back from the edge. The arm of her coat was soaked up to the elbow, she had no boots, her feet were _freezing_, and she was lost.

Could the day get any worse?

Toph looked up (for all the good it did) as she felt something cold and wet land on her nose. With her face fully exposed to the sky, she felt multiple other wet somethings softly land on her face. She wanted to start crying all over again. Of _course _it could get worse. It just _had _to start snowing.

Perfect.

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**A/N: Thoughts so far? I'd really love some more feedback!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Katara!"

Hearing her name, Katara's attention snapped back to the present. One of the advisors (whose position or name she failed to recall) was staring pointedly at her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she admitted shamefully, feeling the color rise to her face.

The advisor gave her a contemptuous look that said '_obviously'_ before repeating what had just been said beforehand. "I asked of any word or news from the esteemed Master Pakku, your grandfather."

"Oh, yes, of course," she flustered. She took a moment to regain her composure and to remember Pakku's message. It had been a few months since she had last seen her grandfather and she was surprised that she was able to remember the message at all after everything else that had been weighing on her mind lately. "Master Pakku feels it is of extreme importance for select mentors from all nations to travel and educate young benders. He himself plans on traveling to the swamps to both educate the benders there and to learn their unique style of bending. As far as trade is concerned, he has appointed a few members of the Southern Tribe to oversee international trade. Since the tribe is still being rebuilt, there is not a lot to offer in exchange for other commodities. However, with generous aid from the Fire Nation," Katara gave a nod and small smile to Zuko, "the tribe is starting to finally get back on its feet." She looked at the others around the table. She felt like she had left out something important, but that may have just been her nerves dealing with the current situation.

Chief Arnook was silent for a moment as he took in the news. "Very well. We will end here for the time being," he said in a tone that obviously implied that he was not happy about having to end the meeting early. "When the Avatar returns, will you please tell him that I wish to meet with him?"

Katara nodded, feeling guilty once again that it was her fault this meeting was not going as planned. "Of course."

Once there had been a round of diplomatic farewells, Zuko and Katara walked outside of the meeting hall. There was silence as they walked at a slow pace back to the quarters they had been assigned. Zuko kept glancing at Katara, wondering if she was going to bring up whatever had happened or if he was going to have to do it. Deciding to go ahead and get it over with, he said, "So…"

Katara seemed to need no more prompting than that and rattled off what had happed so quickly that Zuko was hard-pressed to follow her. "Toph and I got into a stupid argument and I said some really stupid things and she ran off and wouldn't let me apologize and I was mad so I just let her go and now she's still out there probably lost because she can't see anything in all this ice so Sokka and Aang went to go find her before she freezes to death or drowns or worse and it's all my fault and they wouldn't even let me go with them to look for her so now I'm stuck here worried sick and there's nothing I can do and I feel so horrible about it!"

By the time she had finished, Zuko was simply staring wide-eyed at her. Did she even breathe? How could girls just talk non-stop like that? Didn't they need to take a breath to keep on talking? Why did they always—

"And you're not even saying anything!" cried Katara, throwing her arms in the air in a mild fit of hysteria as her voice jumped octaves. She turned away from him and started walking away while continuing to speak. "You just won't admit that I was being a complete bitch—"

"Katara."

"—because I _was _being a bitch—"

"Katara."

"—and now everyone is going to think—"

"_Katara!_"

Zuko had followed Katara and tried to get her attention. When she just kept talking, he finally put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face him. He was not surprised to see that her blue eyes were brimming with tears as she avoided looking at him. Words could not explain how uncomfortable he got when girls cried, especially when it all had to do with this sort of girl drama. That was one of the good things about Mai; there was rarely, if ever, this sort of drama going on.

"Katara, listen to me," he said firmly, keeping a good grip on her shoulders so she couldn't turn away from him. "Regardless of who was right or wrong, what's done is done and there is no changing that," he told her. "Toph can't've gone very far. Aang and Sokka will find her. And no one thinks you're a bitch." Well… "At least not all the time," he amended quietly, mostly to himself. He hoped that Katara didn't hear the last part or at least, if she did, that she wouldn't take offense.

Zuko was immensely relieved to see that it seemed to work. Katara nodded and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand, looking suddenly embarrassed for such an undignified display of emotion. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "It's just… I'm really worried."

"And that's okay," Zuko replied. "But there's nothing we can do here." He let go of her shoulders, glad that she was slowly getting back to normal.

Intent on changing the subject, he cleared his throat. "So, uhm… Uncle always makes sure I travel with enough tea to supply an army," he commented, rolling his eyes and smiling humorously. "Come on, I'll fix you some."

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**A/N: Wow, thanks for all of the adds and the couple of reviews! It made me so happy that I went and wrote two more chapters last night. The moral of this lesson is that the more reviews/adds, the faster I write. Hmm...**


	7. Chapter 7

Aang flew ahead, following the erratic pattern of footprints in the snow. The freezing air stung his eyes and he had to continually wipe away the moisture so that he could see properly. His worst worry was that Toph may have fallen into the water. She couldn't swim and, with no one around to help her, the likelihood of her getting out of the arctic water was very slim. He tried not to think about it. After all, the footprints seemed to stay away from the water for the most part; each time they seemed to veer closer to the edge they moved back to safety.

He just couldn't imagine what Toph and Katara had been arguing about that would make Toph walk off like this. Katara must have hit below the belt for this kind of reaction from the earthbender. He liked to think that Katara had a better control of her temper than that, but apparently that assumption was wrong.

It started to snow and Aang put a burst of speed into his glider. They didn't need snow right now; it definitely wasn't going to help matters at all. As if to purposely make things more difficult, the wind picked up as the white flakes started falling at a faster speed. Fresh snow from the ground was being picked up by the wind and carried on the currents. It would have been beautiful to look at, the white drops dancing in the wind, except for one small fact.

"The footprints! No!" he cried to himself, his voice jumping pitch irritatingly. He flew closer to the ground, his face just a couple feet from the surface, trying to keep an eye on what was left of the footprints as the swirling winds tauntingly erased them from the ground. He was so intent on staring at the ground that he wasn't watching where he was flying and before he knew it he had crashed into something.

"Ahh!" The force of the impact caused him and his glider to completely flip in midair, landing haphazardly on the other side of whatever he had hit. Aang landed in the snow a couple feet away from his glider and was working on sitting up when he heard a voice.

"Aang? Is that you?" called Toph's voice over the steadily increasing sounds of the wind.

"Toph!" Aang grabbed his glider and shuffled over to where Toph was sitting, hunched over and hugging herself tightly to try and keep as much body warmth as possible from escaping. A thin layer of snow clung to her coat and he could see individual flakes attached her bangs. Aang stood and, with a few quick bending movements, a small, crude hut of ice arose to shelter them from the biting sting of the wind and snow.

"You're late, Twinkletoes," mocked the girl, crossing her arms in front of her and pretending to glare at Aang. He could see, though, that she was relieved he had finally shown up.

"Yeah, well… you were a lot further out than we expected," he explained, grinning. He was just glad he had found her and that she was okay. "Sokka and I—" he paused, eyes wide. "Oh no… Sokka!" He was still out there in this! "I've got to go get him. Will you be okay here?" he asked, looking down at Toph. She sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. While the shelter Aang had built shielded from the wind and snow, it was still cold.

"But you just got here," complained Toph in a voice that also implied 'please don't leave me'. She was far too proud for such a statement, but Aang understood the underlying meaning in what she actually said. He didn't want to leave her, but Sokka couldn't be left out there by himself. Sure, he probably had plenty of experience in surviving in these conditions, but the storm had wiped away all traces of the tracks he was following; he would have no idea where to go.

"I've got to go get him. It shouldn't take long. You'll be okay in here, just don't leave, alright?" She nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry, but I'll be back soon," he reassured her. He bent a doorway in the wall of the shelter and stepped out into the storm. It was starting to get worse, but the conditions were still flyable. He would just have to hurry.

Aang opened his glider and took off into the direction he had just come from, searching this time for Sokka.

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**A/N: Yay, Toph is found! But now Sokka is missing in the snowstorm. Go figure.**

**Big thanks to all of the adds and reviews y'all have given me. I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying the story so far. I hope I'm keeping everyone mostly in-character. Please continue to let me know what you think!**

**Also, a bit of a random question I'd like your opinions on. Which one do you feel is more correct? Waterbended or waterbent? I've seen both and can't decide which one is right.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

Sokka watched as Aang flew away on his glider. In moments he was nothing but a pinpoint in the distance. Not wanting to fall behind too much, he followed the footprints at a jog. When he noticed they started to veer to one side, he kept going straight in the hopes that they would cross back over. Sokka was glad that his assumptions proved correct; it shaved off that much time from not having to follow tracks that kept going every which way.

Hopefully Toph hadn't gone out too far. He hoped that Aang would find her in a couple of minutes and then they could get back to the city, eat some food, attend whatever meeting they were supposed to be having today, lounge around and yell at Katara. Not necessarily in that order, but the yelling at Katara part was essential. He was missing an important meeting because of what she had done. Sokka had worked so hard to achieve the status of someone who was even invited to these meetings and now she was ruining it for him. Most devastatingly, however, he was also missing out on a warm, tasty, meaty meal. While it wasn't Gran-Gran's cooking, these chef's at the North Pole sure knew how to properly feed their guests. Sokka started salivating just thinking about the delicacies they had been enjoying their past few nights here, his favorite being the eight-flavored stew (it had three kinds of meat!).

But, he would not be able to enjoy any of that while he was out here. The sooner they found Toph and got back, the better it would be for everyone.

He continued following the general path of Toph's footprints. Sokka was surprised that she was more or less going in a straight path; she just kept taking unnecessary detours to the left and right every so often. He felt the wind pick up a little bit as it started to snow. Sokka paused and looked up at the sky, examining the clouds. In this kind of environment, wind and snow typically made for unpleasant circumstances. Just as he expected, the clouds were low, dark and heavy. They stretched ominously out into the horizon, covering the entire sky. That could only mean an impending snowstorm.

Sokka quickened his pace, wanting to be as close to Aang and (hopefully) Toph as possible before the storm hit. But, before he knew it, the snow was falling quickly and heavily around him as the winds whipped at his coat and sent the flakes of snow twirling innocently in front of him. He stopped and stared up at the clouds, pouting. "Mother Nature, why do you hate me? I've never been mean to you."

A sudden gust of frigid air hit him in the chest, as if challenging his statement. "This is just payback for spending so much time in the Earth Kingdom and saying how much I loved the warm weather, isn't it?" he shouted as he trudged onward. He kept his head ducked down to better cut through the wind, gloved hands holding his hood in place. "You can't blame a guy for enjoying the sunshine when he's lived in _this _his whole life! I like the snow, too, okay? I just _love _it!"

"_Sokka!"_

"Okay, okay, there may have been a little sarcasm there, no need to call me out on it!" It took him a moment to realize that the voice hadn't been the wind chastising him for a bit of sarcasm. He stood straighter and squinted his eyes to see Aang flying, somewhat unsteadily, toward him.

The airbender landed in front of him, stumbling slightly. "Man, this is horrible to fly in!" he commented, closing his glider before the wind could rip it from his grip.

"Did you find Toph?" asked Sokka, raising his voice to be heard over the whistling wind.

Aang nodded. "She's about half a mile that way," he said, pointing behind him. "C'mon!"

Sokka stared at the Avatar before him. "You left her out there alone?" he asked, shocked that Aang would do such a thing. "In this?" She had already been out here for long enough and then he just left her? He hoped that he hadn't left just to find him; Sokka knew how to survive in these conditions. Toph, on the other hand, did not.

"I made a shelter for her!" said Aang defensively. He wouldn't have just left Toph in the elements like that. "Besides, you're the one with all of the supplies on your back. It made more sense to come get you for the food and blankets, especially in this weather, than to just wait for who knows how long until you showed up."

Sokka gave a nod and held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, you have a point! Let's just get going." If she was only half a mile away, it wouldn't take them too long to get back. But the wind was against them so that would definitely make things more difficult.

However, Sokka was with the best airbender in the world (being the only one automatically made him the best). Aang walked in front of Sokka and, with some fancy airbending moves, was able to bend a sort of air bubble around them that kept out the wind and snow. That made travel _much_ easier.

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**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! They make my day! I had fun writing for Sokka this chapter; sarcasm is my native tongue. Hope y'all enjoyed it! Keep the reviews coming to keep me motivated 'cause I'm approaching a writer's funk.**


	9. Chapter 9

He would come back. Aang said he would and he wouldn't lie to her about something like that. Toph knew it was irrational for her to worry about whether Aang would come back or not, but she couldn't help it. The sounds of the wind outside of the little hut he had made were getting louder. What if there was an avalanche? She wouldn't know until it was too late and then she'd still be stuck out here under a mountain of snow and ice.

Toph took a deep breath. _You're being silly_, she told herself, forcing herself to calm down. _Once Aang finds Meat-for-brains they'll come back here and then we can all get back to the city. In the mean time… _She readjusted her sitting position, crossing her legs in such a way that each of her feet were resting on the tops of her thighs. She started quickly rubbing the numb soles of her feet with her gloved hands, trying to restore feeling to her most essential body part. They stung pretty badly as she rubbed them, but at least it was some sort of feeling. Just as long as there was no permanent damage to her precious feet, she could put up with the cold.

While she usually didn't allow herself to wallow in self-pity parties, she couldn't help but feel that none of this would be happening if she wasn't blind. If she had her eyesight, then she wouldn't be lost like this. There had been a few times in the past where she wondered what the world around her looked like. What her friends looked like. What colors were. What made clouds so special to look at. What sunsets and sunrises looked like. What everyone meant when they commented on how the stars twinkled in the night sky…

Then she would tell herself that she knew what the world around her looked like, she just didn't see it the same way other people did. In fact, she could often see _better _than other people. With her bending, Toph could see things that other people weren't even aware of. Not to mention that, thanks to her blindness, she had been able to learn a unique way of bending and use that to invent metalbending. Reminding herself of that extraordinary feat usually lifted her mood. That same tactic helped now, but there was still that lingering regret that her eyes were so useless.

Toph was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped and let out a surprised squeak when she heard part of the wall of the shelter open up and two bodies shuffle inside. Finally, they were back! "It's about time!" she said, trying to keep the pathetic-sounding relief out of her voice.

She heard Sokka chuckle and drop something heavy on the ground. "You enjoying yourself out here?" he asked her as she heard him sit down on the snow-covered ground.

"Oh yeah, I'm having the time of my life," replied Toph, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'll bet you are," he said, heaving a sigh. "Honestly though, Toph, I would _not _want to be in your shoes. I can't even imagine how this must be for you."

"Speaking of shoes," cut in Aang, his voice slow as if he was just realizing something. "Toph? Where are your boots?"

She was silent for a moment, suddenly embarrassed at the situation in which she had lost her snowboots. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought before answering. "I may have accidently thrown them into the ocean," she said in a mildly off-hand matter.

She heard the two boys give a start and would have loved to have seen the expressions on their faces.

"You what?" came Sokka's voice.

"Why?" squeaked Aang, literally squeaking.

"Don't get too excited there, Twinkletoes," she teased, grinning good-naturedly at her friend's embarrassing voice crack. She could almost hear Aang's face turn red with shame as he coughed to clear his throat.

"Why would you throw away your boots out here?" asked Sokka, ignoring Aang. She heard him rustling around with something, though she couldn't tell what he was doing. "Weren't you wearing any socks?"

"And restrict my feet even more? No way," she said, shuddering at the mere thought of wearing socks _and _boots. "I took them off to figure out if I could find any earth trapped deep in the ice. Couldn't do that with those stupid boots on, so I took them off. Then, when I didn't find anything, I kinda got a little upset and threw them away. Only… I didn't know the ocean was right there and they landed in the water. I tried to get them back," she said, holding up her arm and displaying her still-damp sleeve. While she had been told that the coats would keep out the cold and the snow, they didn't do too well when completely submerged in water.

"Here, take these and put them on," said Sokka. "They're a pair of socks to keep your feet warm," he explained to her.

"You just happened to bring an extra pair of socks?" she questioned as the warrior placed them in her outstretched hands.

"Not exactly," he said. "I was wearing two pairs."

Toph wrinkled her nose in disgust and threw the socks back at Sokka. "Those just came off your sweaty, stinky feet? Gross!"

"They're the second pair, they weren't even touching my feet!" he said defensively. "They aren't sweaty at all." She heard a sniff. "And they don't even smell. Just put them on," he told her.

"It's better than getting frostbite," offered Aang, finally recovered from his vocal mishap a minute ago.

Toph grumbled before holding out her hands again. Sokka gave her the socks and, after fumbling with them for a moment, was able to find the opening and slide her feet into them. They were a lot warmer than she expected them to be. She wiggled her toes happily, glad that they were no longer freezing. They were still a bit numb, but they would be fine once they warmed up a bit.

"That is a bit better, I guess," she told him, thanking him without actually having to say the words.

"You're welcome. You hungry? I have jerky."

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**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy and have had a tough time getting motivated to write the next few chapters. No worries though, I have my mojo back. **

**Also just want to say thanks to everyone who has added this story to their favorites and alerts. It makes me happy! Please leave reviews to let me know what you think of everything so far!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

They sat at a table in Zuko's provided home in awkward silence while they sipped the tea that he had made. Katara was obviously fretting over her friends and brother. Zuko, who had unsuccessfully tried to make small talk to distract her, was trying to think of ways to keep the waterbender's mind here instead of outside in the storm.

"So… how many times have you been up here since the war?" he asked her, trying desperately to get a conversation started.

"Just once, actually," she replied, staring into her steaming teacup as if it held the answer to some important question. "We came up a couple months after the war to get some supplies so that we could take them down to the South Pole. Only stayed for a couple days." There was a pause as Zuko expected her to continue before he realized that she was finished.

"Oh." _Great, now what? _he thought desperately. Zuko didn't want to have to spend time with Katara if he was just going to be baby-sitting her emotions. "This is my first time here since… well… the Fire Nation siege last year. And here I am wondering why so many of the advisors keep giving me nasty looks during the meetings," he commented, trying to lighten the mood.

Katara snorted, though not unkindly. "Hm, I wonder what could be the cause of all their hostility," she questioned mockingly, glancing over her teacup at him as she took a drink. "Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you came up here and almost destroyed the entire city, could it?"

Zuko held up one hand defensively. "I had nothing to do with the actual attack on the city. That was all Zhao." _Good riddance to him_, he thought bitterly.

"Ah, that's right. You just snuck up to the most sacred place in the city and tried to kidnap the Avatar while he was completely defenseless," she retorted, seeming to have fun teasing him about his past mistakes.

"He wasn't completely defenseless. You were there, and you put up a pretty good fight," he told her, hoping to raise her spirits by reminding her what a good friend she was.

Unfortunately, the plan completely backfired. Katara's eyes narrowed at him slightly, recalling the event. "You still won, though. I wasn't able to protect him. You took him and ran off, getting lost out in the snow just like Toph is right now."

He let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been a long, stressful day and he didn't want to spend the rest of it listening to Katara whine. She needed to be snapped out of this.

Zuko looked Katara straight in the eye, his gaze daring her to look away. "Katara, you have got to stop this. You made a mistake; so what? Everyone does. Stop beating yourself up about it because I'm tired of listening to you mope." He held up a hand as she opened her mouth to defend herself. "You need to pick yourself up and learn from what happened so that this situation doesn't repeat itself. Find something to occupy your mind if you need to, but sitting here drowning yourself in guilt is doing nothing."

He kept his eyes on Katara, watching her face change as he spoke. At first she looked indignant, then reflective, and now her face was soft with acceptance. She nodded and looked into her teacup. "You're right, Zuko," she said. "I'm sorry." She slowly finished off her tea and looked up silently at the ceiling, obviously lost in thought. Zuko could tell by the expression on her face that at least she wasn't still thinking about Toph and the other boys.

Leaving her to her thoughts, Zuko started to move around the house, busying himself by going over official documents from home and some scrolls from the Water Tribe. The Water Tribe still had some very old documents detailing trade information from before the war. He was comparing goods and rates with current numbers when Katara suddenly jumped from her seat and grabbed her outdoor coat, startling him out of the silence.

"Geez, Katara, what are you doing?" he asked, craning his neck to look at her. She was pulling her coat over her head and had look of pure optimism on her face; it was a typical Katara expression.

"Keeping myself busy," she replied with a grin. Without offering any other information, she strode purposefully out the door and into the snowstorm.

Zuko stared at the door after her. He sincerely hoped that 'keeping busy' wasn't going to get her lost in the storm searching for her friends.

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**A/N: Again, thank you to everyone who leaves comments on the story! I love seeing your reactions to what's going on. Not to mention that it just encourages me to write faster! So keep the comments, reviews, and adds coming!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Toph and Sokka both munched on the jerky in relative silence. Sokka offered some to Aang as well, forgetting that the young monk didn't eat meat. When he refused, Sokka apologized and then happily helped himself to Aang's piece. It was lucky that Sokka had thought to pack some in the first place. With food always on his mind, he hardly went anywhere without some food stashed somewhere. Especially out into the wilderness. After traveling so much before the war, he knew better than to be unprepared. He would never be caught without food again if he could help it.

With stomachs mostly satisfied, Sokka began to think. He could tell that he and Aang were more or less thinking the same thing but were just waiting for the right moment to bring it up. Sokka wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to contain himself; he wanted to know. He wanted to know _now_. He was practically squirming trying to keep the thoughts from just spilling out of his head, but he was trying to be polite and respectful. Katara always said that he was lacking in those areas.

Apparently their silent thoughts were still loud enough to be heard because after swallowing her last bite of jerky, Toph sighed loudly. "Go ahead and ask, I know you're dying to," she said, waving her hand vaguely in front of her.

Sokka needed no further persuasion. "What were you and Katara fighting about?" he asked. He unfairly received a _look _from Aang; the airbender had been wondering the same thing and he knew it. He gave a small shrug. "She said to ask!" he said defensively. "Inquiring minds want to know."

"You need to work on your tact," muttered Aang, running his gloved hand over his bald head, eyes glancing over at Toph. He _was _curious about what they had been fighting about, but there were better ways to ask a question than in the blunt approach Sokka had taken.

"Sokka doesn't know how to be tactful," commented Toph with a small grin. Sokka started to protest that he could be tactful when the situation required it, but she mostly ignored him. The boys didn't need to know the whole story, especially because the conversation between her and Katara had started going downhill when the topic of Aang came up. He didn't need to know that he had, however indirectly, been the start of their argument. He'd just feel guilty, even though he had no reason to, and she didn't quite feel like dealing with it at the moment.

She took a breath before beginning her edited explanation. "I don't remember what we were talking about originally, but Katara started whining and complaining about something. I told her she was being self-centered, because she _was_, and she retaliated by bringing up how useless and dependent I am up here and that I was just baggage that everyone else had to take care of and that I shouldn't have even come. Or something like that," she concluded calmly, shrugging in a nonchalant manner.

There was a pause as the two boys listened. It was obvious that they were expecting something a little more thrilling and offensive, but oh well. That's what happened, more or less. There had been no blood or hair-pulling, not even any bending (mostly because that would have been extremely unfair… even as upset as she had been, Katara wouldn't have resorted to a bending battle when her opponent was completely helpless).

"Ouch." Sokka knew Katara could be harsh with her words sometimes, but that was just downright uncalled for.

"I can't believe that Katara would say something like that," said Aang quietly. "I'm sure she didn't really mean it," he said in an apologetic tone.

"No, she probably did," replied Toph. "You know how she is. When she gets angry, she speaks her mind whether it is hurtful or not. Sure, she might have exaggerated her feelings a bit, but still." She shrugged. "I was tired of listening to her and decided to leave since she obviously didn't want me there."

"So…" Sokka paused, thinking about his words before he spoke. "To prove your independence and ability to look after yourself, you wandered off onto the vast ice-shelf and got lost?" he questioned cautiously.

Toph felt her cheeks redden at Sokka's question. "Yeah, not one of my better plans," she mumbled, embarrassed by the whole situation. She had been ashamed thinking of it earlier, but now that someone else had said it aloud it just made the whole situation seem more ridiculous. She was never going to live this one down.

Aang could see the embarrassment on Toph's face and decided that a change of topic was in order. "Well, at least we are together now, that's the important part," he said, looking at his two companions.

"More importantly," cut in Sokka, "we may be together for awhile if this storm doesn't clear up anytime soon."

Toph was about to complain about how unnecessary the storm was, but decided against it since it was partly her fault that they were stuck in the storm to begin with. So she settled on something different instead. "Can't you use your magic Avatar powers to get rid of it? You'd think the Master of All Elements would be able to shoo away a little snowstorm."

Aang frowned. "I could, but weather manipulation for personal benefit is kind of… wrong," he ended lamely, unable to come up with a better word for it. It was one thing to move clouds into shapes or try to gather water from them. It was another thing entirely to try and move a weather system. It could cause all sorts of problems. He had no personal experience, but Aang just knew it would be a bad idea.

A thought crossed his mind and he got to his feet. Using waterbending to make a small opening, he stuck his head outside to look at the weather. It was starting to clear up, but it was still not ideal traveling weather. Also, it would be getting dark within the next hour. Mind made up, he brought his head back inside and closed up the hole.

"I can't change the weather," he said, looking from Sokka to Toph. "But I can keep the weather off of us while we walk back to the city. Now that we know where we're going, it shouldn't take that long. And we need to head back before it gets too dark; it wouldn't be good to spend the night out here if we don't have to."

Sokka listened to Aang's decision and nodded his approval. "Good plan. If you can carry the backpack, then I can carry Toph on my back."

The earthbender gave an indignant squeal. "Hey! I can walk just fine, thank you!" she said, glaring in Sokka's general direction, though missing his face by about a foot and a half.

Sokka nodded. "I know you can walk. But we need to get back to the city as fast as we can. Without any boots, especially just wearing socks, you aren't going to be getting any good traction on the ice and won't be able to walk as quickly," he told her, quickly coming up with a logical reason why he should carry her that had nothing to do with her blindness. He thought he did very well.

Aang, able to watch Sokka's facial expression while he spoke, knew the teen had come up with that excuse on the spot. It was reasonable, though, and Aang was impressed with his ability to pull his reasoning out of the air like that.

Toph grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. He made sense. She always hated it when Sokka was right. "Fine. I'll let you carry me," she said grumpily, as if she was doing him a favor. Secretly, she was glad that she wouldn't have to worry about crossing the ice blindly again. "But you have to put me down the moment we get inside!" she declared, getting to her feet carefully. She hadn't even taken a step and it was already difficult enough standing still on ice in just a pair of socks.

Sokka and Aang both shared a smile. Toph was very prideful and Sokka would do everything he could to make sure her pride stayed as in tact as possible. "Wouldn't dream of doing otherwise," he told her, closing up the backpack and handing it over to Aang. The airbender slung it over his back and then helped Toph climb onto Sokka's back. It took a couple of moments to get her in a position that she was comfortable with that still left Sokka with the ability to breathe. Once they were all settled, the two boys gave each other a nod.

"You guys ready?" asked Aang, pulling up his hood. Sokka nodded, grinning underneath his own hood. Toph stayed motionless, her head buried between Sokka's neck and shoulder as she clung to his back.

"Let's just get this over with," she mumbled, her voice muffled by Sokka's coat.

Aang took a breath and prepared himself. A moment later, their snow shelter had vanished into the ground and Aang quickly whipped up an air shield around the trio. He nodded to Sokka and they began walking back to the city.

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**A/N: Firstly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, Nickelodeon has greenlit a new series! Avatar: The Legend of Korra. The series (done by Bryke) is set to debut in 2011. Will take place 70 years after the finale. Follows the adventures of Korra, the next Avatar, who is a waterbender from the Southern Tribe. Having already mastered water, earth and fire, she sets out to Republic City to learn air from Aang's son Tenzin. Within the city is an anti-bending revolution that is trying to get rid of bending. Should be interesting, no?**

**Had to get that out of the way... I'm really excited for this. Anyway, as usual, thanks a bunch for the reviews, especially those of you who keep coming back and reviewing each chapter. It really makes me happy and I love seeing your reactions! Keep the reviews coming!**

**Edit: Fixed a small error about Aang eating the jerky in the beginning. Briefly forgot that he is vegetarian. Thanks to prepare4trouble for the catch!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

He debated with himself on whether or not to go after her. After a couple of minutes, he gave up. By now he would have no idea which direction she would have gone anyway. He sighed, hoping that Katara wasn't about to do something stupid. Zuko didn't think that she would go out and look for her friends, though she obviously wanted to. But if she wasn't going out to search for them, then what could she have been so excited about?

Zuko sighed to himself, resigned to the fact that he would never understand the goings-on of any female mind.

He spent awhile longer looking over the documents spread out over his desk. There was a lot of information to take in and, important as it all was, he couldn't focus. Perhaps the drama of the day was catching up to him. Zuko gathered up some of the documents and tucked them into his coat. He decided to head over to the other house where Sokka, Katara, and Toph were staying. Since it was the unofficial gathering place for their group, it made sense that whenever Aang and Sokka returned with Toph they would go there first.

After ensuring that he had enough busy work to occupy himself, Zuko donned his coat, braced himself, and headed out the door. The cold air always shocked him when he took a step outside. He didn't see how anyone could live in a place like this; it was too cold! He was just glad that they would only be staying for a few more days. He would start losing his mind after much longer.

At least the storm was starting to ease up. It was still snowing pretty heavily, but the winds had died down at last. Zuko trudged through the ankle-deep snow on the ground, watching his breath puff in front of him as he walked. Thankfully, it only took a couple of minutes to reach the other home.

The moment he opened the door to let himself in, a furry shadow launched itself at his face, chittering and crawling around his shoulders in a frenzy.

"Momo, is this necessary?" he grumbled, trying to pry the lemur from his body. Momo gave him a disgruntled chirp before gliding across the room and landing on a counter. Zuko shook his head; the little creature was obviously not used to being left alone. He ignored the chirruping lemur as he made himself comfortable at the table.

Still chilled from walking outside, he sat in his coat, drawing out the documents he had stuffed inside. After spreading them all out at the table, he stared at them blankly. His good eye narrowed as he tried to focus on all of the information. There were old documents from before the war next to documents that were only months old; statements from other cities on what they felt they were owed by the Fire Nation. There was also a running tally on what exactly he was promising to each city he visited and the deadlines he had set for himself. How many soldiers he was sending to where to help rebuild, where and what kind of supplies he was sending to aid those most in need, and, most importantly, a list of the funds he had available to offer such services.

Zuko had never anticipated so much work when he became Fire Lord. Sure, he had advisors who could do all of this for him, but he wanted to do as much as he could personally. It made him feel more involved in the whole rebuilding process. That, and he always had a sinking suspicion that one or more of his advisors was still loyal to his father and would do anything possible to sabotage Zuko's work.

Momo made his way over to the table and looked at the documents. His head tilted to the side as his bright green eyes surveyed everything. He then made the decision to relieve some of Zuko's stress by removing some of the papers. The lemur grabbed some of the documents at random, one sheet stuffed between his sharp teeth and a few others clenched in his paws, and flew across the room.

"Hey! Momo!" Zuko stood up so quickly that he knocked over his chair. He crossed the room in just a few strides to where the lemur was perched on top of a cabinet, looking down at the Fire Lord innocently. "Those are ancient documents that you've got in your mouth! Give them back!" He reached out his hand to try and grab the creature, but Momo evaded capture easily enough and flew across the room. He landed gracefully on the arm of the couch, poised to spring again if Zuko came closer. The firebender growled at the creature's antics and turned to face him.

"Come on, why don't you just drop those so I can have them?" he cooed sweetly, trying a different tactic. He took slow and gentle steps, keeping his open hands in front of him in a sign of peace. "If you let me have those then I'll give you some nice treats." One step closer. No movement from the lemur. Another step. Momo waggled his butt in a playful stance, obviously enjoying this new game. "Just stay there," he said in a nice voice. "Stay there and I won't have to hurt you." As if he had understood the words, Momo gave a muffled shriek around the paper in his mouth and took off once again, this time flying over Zuko's head. He made a wild grab for the animal and missed, turning to watch as he scurried under a wide cabinet.

"Ugh! You stupid animal!" Zuko stalked over to the cabinet and got down on his hands and knees, peering underneath it. Hiding in the far corner, Momo peered curiously at him, his eyes gleaming brightly in the darkness. Zuko smirked. "Gotcha cornered now," he muttered, reaching his hand under the cabinet. But the lemur was too far back. Growling, Zuko flattened himself on the floor and shimmied his torso underneath, glaring at the animal that was now within his grasp. "Now you're mine," he said threateningly, reaching out to grab the lemur.

Suddenly, the door opened. The noise startled Zuko and caused him to bump his head on the bottom of the cabinet. Momo took that moment to zig-zag his way to freedom and started chattering noisily at whoever was at the door. _Great… this is just great. _He wasn't exactly in a very dignified position at the moment and he hoped that whoever had just walked in wasn't terribly important.

He heard a snigger, followed by a choked voice asking, "Zuko? W-Why are you under there?" Aang.

Zuko sighed and pushed himself out from underneath the cabinet. Once free, he got to his feet in as much of a dignified manner as he could manage, rubbing the spot on his head that he had bumped. "If you must know," he said, looking at Aang, Sokka and (thankfully) Toph. The earthbender was scurrying off of her position on Sokka's back. Momo, papers and all, had perched himself on Aang's shoulders, playing the part of innocent bystander. "Your _pet _thought it would be a good idea to play with some very old and very important documents that I was trying to read."

"Momo," said Aang, in a voice that was half scolding and half playful. Zuko rolled his eyes at Aang's unwillingness to actually scold his little lemur. "Can you please give Zuko back those papers?" he asked the lemur.

Momo's ears folded back; the game was over. He glided over and landed on Zuko's shoulder, spitting out the paper in his mouth and shoving the others into Zuko's waiting palm. The one that had been in his mouth had tiny holes in it, not to mention a healthy coating of lemur spit.

"Now tell Momo 'thank you', Zuko," chided Aang, obviously enjoying this.

Zuko glared at the Avatar for a moment. Say 'thank you'? To the _lemur_? He couldn't believe this. There was no escaping it, though; he knew Aang wouldn't let this go. Grumbling, he glanced at the mischievous lemur perched on his shoulder and grunted a barely audible 'thank you'.

Aang looked happy enough with that and burst into one of his characteristic grins. "Good!" Momo flew back over to his friend and nestled himself on the monk's bald head. "I'm sure Momo won't do it again, will ya buddy?" he asked, reaching up to pat the lemur on the head. The animal chittered in response, happy to finally be reunited with his human.

Zuko rolled his eyes. _Stupid lemur_, he thought. He turned his attention to Toph, standing next to Sokka with her arms crossed over her chest. She did not look very happy (and he noticed that she was only wearing a pair of socks on her feet), but at least she seemed to be okay. "So… Toph…" Before he could get out a question, however, Toph held up one of her hands to stop him.

"I'd really rather not talk about any of it," she said sharply. She started shuffling her way across the room, trying to find the couch by memory. Before any of them had time to say anything, however, she had tripped over the chair that Zuko knocked to the floor earlier. Toph stumbled and Sokka, who was closest, was able to leap forward and grab her before she actually fell.

Once she was stable on her feet, she pushed her way out of Sokka's grasp. "_Ugh! _I _hate _not being able to _see _anything!" she cried, incredibly frustrated. "I'm going to bed," she announced, stomping off in the direction of her room. There was nothing to block her path this time and they all knew she had reached her destination when they heard the door slam loudly.

The three boys were quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond after that.

"She's had a bit of a rough day," commented Sokka quietly, picking up the chair from the ground.

"Apparently," agreed Zuko, shaking his head. He felt bad for Toph up here; he couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be suddenly and completely stripped of your only way to sense the world. Considering the circumstances, he thought she was doing rather well, though this episode may have been a minor setback.

"Hey Zuko?" asked Aang, removing the backpack he was wearing and setting it against the wall. "Where's Katara?"

The Fire Lord gave a small shrug and sat down at the table, followed by the other two. "No idea. She was moping most of the afternoon so I told her to find something to keep herself busy. I guess she figured something out because she just got up and left about an hour ago," he explained.

Aang nodded, obviously a little bummed that his girlfriend wasn't here. "She didn't say when she'd be back?" he asked hopefully.

"No. Not a word on where she was going or when she would come back. You should try to teach her some manners sometime," he joked, giving Aang a friendly smirk.

Sokka scoffed at the idea. "Katara may be able to learn many things, but manners are not one of them. She uses them only when she can get something in return," he commented, leaning back in his chair comfortably.

Zuko smiled and nodded his agreement. "Yeah, well… she had other things on her mind, I guess."

There was silence for another few moments as they all stewed on their own thoughts. Then Zuko remembered something. "Oh, Aang. Chief Arnook wanted you to meet with him once you got back. Didn't say what for."

Aang sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I just can't catch a break, can I?" he moaned, rubbing his temples.

Zuko chuckled. "You and me both," he commented. "He didn't say it was urgent; I'm sure he would understand if you waited until morning," he offered, knowing that Aang wouldn't want to go back out to frigid evening air to have yet another meeting.

"Probably," he agreed with a small nod. "But I should go anyway. It might be important." The Avatar heaved himself out of the chair as if he was made of lead. "Can you guys keep an eye on Momo?" he asked, removing the lemur from his head and setting him on the table. The older boys nodded (Zuko somewhat reluctantly) and received a thankful smile from Aang. "Thanks. I'll be back later, I guess," he said, giving them a farewell wave as he walked out the door.

Sokka shook his head as the boy left. "That kid has one hell of a sense of duty," he remarked. "I'd have waited till morning."

"That's why he's the Avatar and you're not," quipped Zuko, smirking at the other boy.

"And the world is a better place because of it," agreed Sokka good-naturedly. He put his chair on all fours and looked at Zuko. "So, fill me in on what we missed at the meeting today. Anything good?"

Zuko sighed. Sokka may be a bit spacey and immature sometimes, but he liked to be involved and had some very valuable opinions in all of the meetings. While the meeting that afternoon hadn't lasted very long, there were still important topics that had been covered. Zuko settled himself in and began explaining the events of the afternoon to the southern warrior.

* * *

**A/N: Quite the lengthy chapter compared to the others. I didn't think it really needed to be broken down so I just shoved it all together. Hope it flows decently enough.**

**Again, thanks to everyone for the adds and all the great reviews! Keep 'em coming!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

There was hope. If this worked, it would fix everything. It would fix all the things she had ever said, all the things _anyone _had ever said. It would work. It _had _to.

Katara rushed back to the group's house a couple hours after she'd left Zuko at his place. She burst through the front door, only mildly startled to see Sokka and Zuko sitting at the table deep in conversation. Momo was lying on the floor under the table asleep. He opened his eyes as Katara walked in, gurgled a greeting, then went back to sleep. The boys both turned in her direction as she shut the door.

"Katara!" exclaimed Sokka, getting to his feet and facing his sister. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Out," she replied vaguely, pushing back her hood and looking around the room. "Did you get Toph?" she asked quickly, suddenly realizing that both she and Aang were missing. Her heart sank. Did that mean he was still out looking for her? Why hadn't she been found yet?

Sokka nodded, waving his hand toward the girl's room. "She's in there. She's had quite the day," he said pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a stern look.

Katara lowered her eyes in shame. "Yeah, I know. Look, I need to talk to her. How long has she…?"

"No, Katara," scolded her brother. "You're going to leave her alone until she's ready to put up with you. And, given how she was talking about you earlier, that may be awhile."

Katara winced. She knew that she had made the girl upset, but the way Sokka put it seemed like she was even angrier than she'd expected.

"Well… she can't ignore me forever," huffed Katara, glancing in the direction of Toph's room. She would have to come out sooner or later. And if she didn't, then Katara would just have to let herself in. Katara _needed _to set things right with her and it needed to be done sooner rather than later. "She's going to have to let me talk to her eventually."

Sokka exhaled through his nose and continued to stare at her. "I'm not so sure she'd be willing to accept your apology so soon. And, honestly, I don't blame her!" he said, walking closer to his sister so they were only a couple feet apart. "After all you said to her-"

"What did she tell you I said?"

"-and then the way you just _left her _out there when you _know _she couldn't see anything-"

"It wasn't like she would have let me go after her!" exclaimed Katara defensively, starting to feel even worse now that her own brother was jumping down her throat.

"You're supposed to be her friend, Katara. Friends don't completely _abandon _each other like that-"

"_I know_, Sokka!" she shouted, throwing up her arms. "I know! I messed up! I made a mistake! Here I am trying to make up for everything I did this afternoon and all I get is this! I don't need you throwing it all back in my face! I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry! What more do you want me to say, Sokka? And why should I be explaining myself to you in the first place?" she demanded.

"Me? Because Aang and I were the ones who had to go out and find her, that's why!" he retorted angrily, gesturing wildly with his hands as he spoke.

"Hey, I tried to go with you-"

"We were the ones who had to see her face when she told us what happened, what you had said. She tried to hide how hurt she was, but it was there. There was so much pain in her eyes, Katara. And that was all _your fault_," he said venomously, putting extra emphasis on the last two words.

Katara had done a fairly good job at keeping her emotions in check since she had arrived, but with Sokka's last jabbing statement, she could feel her eyes start to water. Partly out of what she had done to deserve it and partly out of anger at how her brother was treating her. He had _no right _to be treating her like this! He was acting like she had committed some heinous crime when she and Toph just had an argument! They exchanged verbal accusations and insults, nothing more! He thought he had the right to act this way just because he was older. Well, she was sick of him trying to act like he was so much more superior than she was!

She blinked rapidly, not allowing herself to cry. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Katara ripped her eyes from Sokka and they landed on Zuko. He had been very quiet this whole time. "Do you have anything you'd like to add?" she asked him harshly, wondering if he was going to start berating her like Sokka was.

Zuko shook his head and held up his hands. "I don't any more than what you told me earlier. It's not my place to say anything." Honestly, he thought Sokka was being a bit harsh in his attempt to discipline Katara. Zuko was all for making people realize their mistakes but this seemed a little extreme. He personally would have just let the girls work out their own problems. But he supposed different rules applied to family. Zuko just knew that he didn't want to get involved.

Katara turned to glare at Sokka, gesturing toward Zuko with one of her hands. "Look, he's mature enough to know that this isn't his place to get involved! Why don't you do the same and butt out! This isn't your problem! It's personal!"

"Katara!" Sokka sighed heavily. "Any problem of yours eventually _becomes _my problem through association. You aren't allowed to have any _personal_ problems! You need to-"

The front door opened slowly and Aang slid in, looking warily at the obvious argument that was going on. His hopes of not being dragged in were quickly destroyed.

"You're not going to start yelling at me too, are you?" demanded Katara without so much as a hello.

"What?" asked Aang wearily, figuring out easily enough what the argument seemed to be about. "No, I'm not going to yell at you," he said, pushing back his hood as Momo flew over to greet him.

"So you're just going to let her get away with this?" asked Sokka incredulously, staring wide-eyed at Aang.

"Sokka, she's not getting _away _with anything," reasoned Aang. "She knows what she did, she's sorry, and she's going to work it out with Toph in the morning when everyone has had time to sleep on it."

"I should have known you'd take her side," pouted Sokka.

"I'm not taking sides," said Aang calmly, keeping his voice level. It was easy to see how frustrated with the situation he was with the situation, though. Luckily for him, his experience with peace-keeping meetings gave him a bit of an advantage when it came to situations like this. "I'm just trying to get you two to come to an understanding," he said diplomatically. "There's no point in arguing over something like this. Everyone knows what happened and the only thing you are achieving by arguing is making each other even more upset."

"Yeah, not to mention the fact that they've probably woken the entire city by this point." Everyone turned, shocked to see Toph standing by the hallway leading to the bedrooms. She was leaning one shoulder against the wall and had her arms crossed in front of her chest, an un-amused expression on her face as her blind eyes focused on a point beyond them all.

"Toph. H-how long have you been…?" asked Katara, turning her body completely to face the other girl. She moved to take a step forward and then stopped herself; it probably wouldn't be wise to move any closer until she could be sure of the earthbender's feelings.

"How long have I been listening or how long have I been standing here? In both cases, long enough," she answered crisply. The dark bangs that always hid her face seemed like such a hindrance at the moment; Katara couldn't read the girl's face at all and had no idea of her present state of mind.

"Sorry we woke you," mumbled Sokka, mildly embarrassed at the situation. He should have been courteous enough to realize that Toph was trying to sleep in the other room.

Toph shrugged. "I wasn't asleep," she told them bluntly.

Katara took a breath and decided to risk a step forward. "Look, Toph…"

"Is this the part where you grovel at my feet and beg for mercy? 'Cause I gotta tell ya, I'm not really feeling up to dishing out any mercy at the moment," she replied coldly, not bothering to aim her gaze at the waterbender. Sokka covered an amused snort with a cough after Aang shot him a warning glance. Zuko sat at the table in silence, observing the drama unfold in front of him.

Katara winced and nodded. "Yeah, I understand. And I know I don't really deserve it. I just want to say two things," she offered. Toph gave her a nod to continue but didn't say anything. "First, I am really, _really _sorry for what I said and did. I was out of line. I was upset and angry and it just sort of came out. I didn't mean it. You're anything _but _useless. I can't even count the number of times you've saved our skins. We probably wouldn't have all made it out of the war in one piece without you. It was wrong of me to say something like that when it was so far from the truth." Katara paused here, waiting for Toph's reaction. She knew that the girl liked to be praised and she was hoping that would buy her some points. But Toph kept her feelings well-hidden.

"What was the other thing you wanted to say?" she asked. Her tone was softer, but not quite amiable yet. Katara would take whatever she could get at this point.

She took a deep breath. This was it. "Okay. Secondly… I know it probably won't make you forgive me any faster, and I don't expect it to, but I thought it would be worth a shot." She paused again, going over mentally once again how she was going to word this. "I went and talked to Yugoda earlier. She's the head healer here, the absolute best in the entire world. I asked her some questions and we had a long discussion about it and…" This wasn't coming out as fluidly as she had planned. Screw elegance and tact; she'd just have to say it.

"Toph, we may be able to fix your eyes."

* * *

**A/N: So, how predictable was that? Haha. I'm not sure how I feel about Sokka this chapter... do you think he was okay? I'm hoping his argument with Katara was decently in-character.**

**Thoughts? Comments? Oopsies? Let me know!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

The room fell completely silent at Katara's words. Toph's brows knitted together and her mouth was slightly open, but she didn't say anything. Sokka wasn't really sure that Toph had understood; surely she should be excited by this news, not just standing there in some sort of stupor. Aang, who had seen where the conversation was going the moment Katara mentioned Yugoda, was wondering why none of them had thought about this before. He sat down at the table, waiting for one of the girls to say something.

After a few more moments of agonizing silence, Katara couldn't wait any longer. "Toph?" she prodded cautiously. "Did you hear me? I said—"

"I heard you," replied Toph, her voice soft and stunned. "I'm blind, not deaf," she added. She heard Katara mumble an apology. "But…" she started after another moment of silence. Toph couldn't wrap her mind around what Katara had said. _Fix your eyes… fix… eyes… fix…_ "My parents had me see all kinds of healers when I was a baby and none of them were able to do anything," she explained, not ready to accept the possibility. "Said it was permanent. Irreversible." After all, Katara hadn't said they _could _do anything, but that they _may _be able to help. There was no guarantee so she wasn't about to start thinking about what would happen if it worked.

"Yeah, but you never saw Yugoda, and she's the best," said Katara kindly, realizing what a shock this must be to the girl. "_And_, they never had water from the Spirit Oasis," she added, finally mentioning the key element to the situation.

"That's the stuff that saved my life after Azula almost killed me," Aang reminded her to stress the significance of the special water. "Without it… I would have died for sure." He always felt a shiver run down his spine every time he thought about that. He had been so close to death; he was sure that he had _actually_ died. If Katara wouldn't have had the spirit water, he would have been gone. Not to mention the entire Avatar cycle would have been destroyed since he had been in the Avatar state when Azula had hit him. Everything would have changed. In a way, the Spirit Water saved the entire world.

"But…" Toph was trying to find some flaw in the plan. There had to be a flaw, one that would completely render it useless. It was too good to be true. There had to be a reason that it wouldn't work. "But that worked because Aang was hurt. I'm not hurt. I'm just… blind." That had to be it. The Spirit Water could only heal wounds. She was blind due to some sort of birth defect, not a wound. It wouldn't work, couldn't work. She felt a little better telling herself that. Now she didn't have to get her hopes up.

"I brought that up with Yugoda," explained Katara. "And she said that no one really knows what the Spirit Water can do. It might be able to work. I mean, there's still a high chance that it won't do anything," she admitted, wishing she didn't have to add the disclaimer. But it was necessary. "But there's also the chance that it might work," she added optimistically, trying to get the girl to agree to try it.

"If there's a 'high chance' of it not working, what's the point of even trying?" countered Toph logically. She didn't raise her voice or sound angry. In fact, it was difficult for any of them to tell what Toph was thinking based on her voice. She was still standing with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Nothing about her stance had changed. She was like a rock. In reality, however, her carefully controlled features hid the whirlwind hope, confusion, disbelief, and worry that was currently raging inside of her. She would definitely need time to think about this.

"You can't be afraid of failing if you never make the attempt in the first place." Zuko spoke up for the first time. He had tried to quote something Uncle had said to him once, but it didn't quite resonate the same way. He'd probably worded it wrong. All the same, he thought it still sounded decent enough and held the same meaning.

"Iroh Junior is right," commented Sokka with a small smile. "I mean, if you spend all this time worrying about things going wrong, you're never going to know how things could be if they actually go right." While he could understand why Toph might be apprehensive, he was a little shocked to see her trying to absolutely shoot down the idea. Why not just give it a chance? He would jump on an opportunity like this? After all, how often does a person have the chance to use magic water to fix their problems?

Zuko and Sokka's words finally seemed to stir something inside Toph. Her face twitched as she sought to keep her emotions hidden but the movement was enough to be seen across the room. Her gaze shifted downward in thought as she mulled over their words. Maybe they were right. Besides… what if it _did _work? What if it worked and she had been too scared to try it? Then she would never know if it worked. This could either be a life-changing event or an incredible disappointment. She decided that either outcome would make her stronger; Toph was always up for something if it would make her stronger.

After a couple moments of thinking in silence, she gave a curt nod. She could practically hear the smiles of her friends. "Fine," she said. "I'll go see this lady in the morning. But only to make you happy," she added quickly, pointing to where she had last heard Katara's voice. If she went under the pretense of appeasing the Sugar Queen, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much when it didn't work. That was her plan, anyway.

Katara nodded, and then realized the girl couldn't see the gesture. "Of course," she agreed. She could understand Toph's unwillingness and the defenses she was putting up around the whole idea. But they would prove to be useless; this was going to work. It _had _to.

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**A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter than the last couple I've been dishing out, but I expect the next part to be pretty lengthy and so decided to break it off here. May be another day or two before you get to see the next (and possibly last) part. I've been mentally re-writing it for days, so we'll see how it goes. **

**As always, I want to thank everyone for the super-awesome reviews! I always grin like an idiot when I see someone has left a review; they really make me feel special.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

"I don't know about this, Katara," admitted Toph nervously. She had barely slept the night before (how could she have been expected to sleep after hearing what Katara had to say?) and spent the hours going back and forth on this whole thing. Would it work? Did she even want it to work? Would it change anything?

In lieu of all this healing business, Toph had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be angry with Katara. She kept telling herself that she could be mad at her later; she had more important things to worry about right now.

The two girls were sitting on a bed in the healing hut, waiting for Yugoda to return from the Spirit Oasis. Toph's ankles were crossed as her legs danged over the side of the bed. She twisted her fingers together anxiously on her lap and bit down on her lip. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Well you can't back out now, we're already here," reminded the older girl kindly, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Besides, there's nothing to worry about."

Toph snorted. "Right," she answered darkly. _Nothing to worry about_. The waterbender didn't understand just how much there was to worry about.

_Maybe she's right, though. There isn't really anything to worry about. Nothing can really go _wrong_. Besides, there're only two outcomes. Either it works, or it doesn't. If it works, cool. If not, oh well, life continues as normal. No big loss._

_But you want it to work_, a small part of her mind nagged. _You want this so badly you're refusing to admit it. You're afraid of giving yourself false hope._

_Shut up. It's not going to work anyway. If it could have been fixed my parents would have hired the best healers to fix it when I was a baby. It can't be fixed. I'm just going through with this for Katara. And then, when it doesn't work, I can rub it in her face. Ha. That'll be great!_

_But this could be different. This special water pretty much brought Aang back from the dead. If it can revive his entire body, surely it will be powerful enough to revive your little eyes._

_That only worked because Aang's connected to all things spiritual. So _of course _the _Spirit Water _worked for him. He's the Avatar. Spirit-y stuff always works for him._

_But this stuff has _special properties_. No one knows what it can do._

_You know what? I didn't ask for your opinion, Crazy Brain. When I want an opinion, I'll give you the right one._

"Toph? Did you hear me? Yugoda's back."

Katara's voice brought Toph back to the present. She blinked and focused her hearing, noting that there was indeed someone else moving around in the hut. "Sorry… I was thinking," she apologized.

She heard a chuckle come from Yugoda, who she had met briefly when they arrived earlier. "There's no need to apologize for thinking," she said in a very kind voice. Toph immediately had the impression that this woman spoke in that sort of motherly tone all the time, which she probably did since she was a healer. "Are you ready, Toph?"

Toph took a breath. "Sure. Let's get this over with," she said as nonchalantly as she could manage. "What do I have to do?"

"Just lie down here on the bed, eyes open to start off with until the process is started." Toph did as instructed, laying her head on a pillow and folding her hands over her stomach. She could feel Katara sitting next to her on the bed and could tell that Yugoda was standing behind her head.

She could feel her heartbeat start to quicken in anxiety as Yugoda spoke again. "I'm going to explain what I'm going to try to do so you won't be alarmed by what you are going to feel. The technique for using Spirit Water is different than regular healing. Because of its properties, it is required for the water to be in direct contact with whatever we are trying to heal as opposed to simply using water as a guide for healing. To achieve this, I am going to bend the water over your eyes. It may be a little unsettling, but it shouldn't cause any pain. Once started, I will simply try to find the source of the problem and see if it can be mended. I want to stress the possibility that there may be nothing that can be done," she said after a pause. "But I will do what I can."

Toph nodded, trying not to focus on the phrase '_shouldn't _cause any pain'. "Trust me, I'm not getting my hopes up," she replied gruffly, beginning to feel even more nervous. She felt Katara fidget on the bed and wished she would at least be still.

"If you are ready then?" came Yugoda's voice. Toph nodded. She took a deep breath to try and settle her nerves. This was really about to happen.

She heard the gentle sound of water moving through the air and tried to dutifully hold her eyes open like she had been told. Within seconds, she felt the liquid cover her eyes. Not like going underwater in a bath; no, the water was actually _on _her eyes. _On _her actual eyeballs. She couldn't stop herself as her instincts told her to close her eyes and try to blink the water out, but the water stayed where it was.

"You can close them now if it makes you more comfortable."

Toph didn't respond in any other way than shutting her eyelids tightly, trying to suppress how _weird _it felt. The water formed a cool film over and around her eyes. She could feel it moving slightly as it roamed over every part, searching for something. In a way, it was kind of relaxing. Sure, the sensation was weird as hell, but the coolness of the water was very… refreshing. Maybe this was why fancy ladies went to the spa and put vegetable slices on their eyes to relax. She supposed it didn't feel quite as intrusive, but the overall effect was probably the same.

Just as she was starting to get used to the strange feeling, it stopped. Toph fleetingly wondered if it was over already when she felt some sort of pressure in the back her head. She had no idea why Yugoda would need to check for anything wrong with her brain; it was her eyes that were the problem. But she wasn't about to tell the healer how to do her job, so she just tried to relax.

While the water on her eyes had definitely been weirder than this, being able to feel something moving around in her head was just unnerving. It almost felt like a headache, one of the ones that were confined to one part of the head, except it kept moving. The feeling stayed in the back of her head, though, and didn't move anywhere else.

Before she had time to find a way to accurately describe how it felt, it was done. Toph didn't feel anything else moving in her eyes or in her head, so she assumed it was over. Honestly, she had expected it to last a bit longer. That took no more than a minute, maybe a minute and a half. She waited for some sort of signal from either Katara or Yugoda, keeping her eyes firmly shut, suddenly extremely reluctant to open them.

"You can open your eyes now, Toph," said Yugoda. Her voice was absent of any sign of triumph or defeat. Did she know if it worked? Or were they both waiting for her?

"I- I don't think I want to," she answered, ashamed at how weak and scared her voice sounded. What was going to happen when she opened her eyes? Would she finally see the world around her? Would she see the faces of the two women standing around her? The inside of the hut? The ice and snow? Her own clothes? The hair she could feel lying on her face? Or would it be the same as always… darkness?

"Come on, Toph, you've got to open them," came Katara's voice, very close to begging. Toph could hear the optimism in her voice, could tell that she was sure that it worked. Had Yugoda given her some sort of sign that it had been a success? Or was it just her natural optimism shining through?

_Stop this nonsense and open your eyes already!_

Toph took a breath and prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. She let the breath out through her nose and slowly relaxed the muscles in her eyelids. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times.

Nothing.

There was nothing there. Just the darkness that had been with her since birth.

She felt her heart drop into her stomach and blinked rapidly, daring the tears to even think about falling. She didn't realize just how much she was hoping for this to work until now. This was worse than being forbidden to earthbend by her parents. Worse than feeling Sokka's heartbeat race whenever he was around Suki. Worse than being helpless as the sandbenders kidnapped Appa and having to endure Aang's heartbroken rage afterwards. Worse than hanging over the side of an airship with Sokka's hand as her only lifeline, certain that death was nearby. This was worse than anything she had ever experienced.

She was glad that no one seemed to expect her to say anything because, at this point, Toph would not have trusted her voice.

"I am truly sorry I could not help," said Yugoda softly, sounding genuinely upset. "There are many reasons for a person to be born blind. Sometimes it is an infection or disease the baby gets while still in the womb that causes some sort of injury. Other times it is because something went wrong while the body was being developed and either the eyes or the part of the brain that interprets vision were not formed properly and therefore cannot work. In your case, it is the second. While the Spirit Water may have been able to fix an old injury, even it cannot heal something that is not there."

"What, so, part of her brain is missing?" asked Katara quietly, sadly. Toph wished she wouldn't ask questions. She didn't really want to hear the answers.

"Not exactly," replied Yugoda. "When the eye sees something, it sends a message to the brain and the brain interprets the message and tells you what you are seeing. In this case, something has gone wrong with both the eye's ability to pick up images and the brain's ability to interpret them. Even if the eyes could be fixed somehow, there is no way to change how the brain works. I am so sorry."

There was silence as Toph pushed herself to a sitting position. She forced her mind to other topics so she wouldn't have to think about what just happened. Or rather, what _didn't _happen.

"We should probably head back," announced Katara softly. "Thanks again for your time, Yugoda."

"Of course. You are both welcome to come see me if you need any other help," she offered.

Toph gave a small, numb nod, still not trusting herself to speak. She got to her feet and followed Katara as she led the way out of the hut. Once outside, the girls walked side-by-side in silence, their paces slow.

Toph reached into her coat pockets and pulled out her gloves, doing anything to keep her mind busy. She shoved them on, almost dropping one of them into the snow that crunched beneath her feet (she had been given another pair of snow boots that morning). She was finally getting the hang of getting them on correctly. The first time she'd tried to put the stupid things on, it had been upside down on the wrong hand. She was rather proud of herself for getting them both on this time without any embarrassing incidents.

"Toph…" Katara's voice was just audible over the crunching of the snow as they continued to walk.

"What are these made of?" interrupted the earthbender, not allowing her to continue with whatever she had been about to say. Toph didn't want to hear it.

"What? The gloves?" asked Katara, obviously caught off-guard by the sudden question. "Um, probably koalaotter. Listen…"

"What about the coat?" continued Toph, tugging at one of her sleeves. "Is it koalaotter, too?"

"No, it's most likely buffalo yak. Toph…"

"So the koalaotters must be pretty small if they're only used to make gloves and other small things, right? How big are the buffalo yaks?"

She heard Katara sigh but the girl apparently took the hint. "Yeah, the koalaotters are small. Maybe a little longer than my whole arm. Buffalo yaks are pretty big; taller than most people. They're really furry to protect them from the cold. People use them as transportation and to help pull things on big sleds," she explained.

"Do you have any at the South Pole?" asked Toph, glad the conversation seemed to have fully shifted and that Katara would stop pestering her.

"No, there are no big animals at the South Pole. We have penguins, seals, and fish. The seals can get pretty big, and they can be mean as well, but nowhere the size of a buffalo yak."

"Hm, that's no fun. The bigger the better, I think. Like the badgermoles. They're huge!" she said, holding out her arms in a wide gesture to show just how huge they were.

Katara gave a small chuckle. "They are pretty monstrous. And I am not surprised that you would prefer the company of huge animals that could easily step on you and kill you."

Toph grinned devilishly. "Keeps me on my toes," she commented.

They were silent for another moment as the conversation died down. Then Katara announced they had arrived back at the house. Toph nodded and the two of them stomped the snow off of their boots before Katara opened the door and they both walked in.

"Hey!" greeted Sokka's voice enthusiastically. "Howwww… is the weather outside today?" he asked as the girls removed their boots. Toph could tell that was not his original question. Katara had probably given him a look that prompted him to change it mid-sentence. She allowed herself a small smile as she removed her gloves and shoved them back in the pocket. For once, she was thankful for Katara's interfering.

"Cold," replied Toph curtly. "Way too damn cold, if you ask me. When you have to wear a coat _inside_, you know something is wrong," she commented, walking toward where she knew the table was. Her friends had been really good about keeping the furniture in exactly the same places for her so she easily found a chair and made herself comfortable in it.

Sokka laughed. "If you think _this _is cold, you should visit us at home sometimes. I'm pretty sure it's colder at the South Pole."

"Really?" came Aang's voice from somewhere in the kitchen. "I think it's colder up here."

"Yeah, well, you were only at the South Pole for a couple of days after you'd been stuck in a big ice ball for a hundred years. Of course the weather was going to seem warmer to you after that," replied Sokka matter-of-factly.

Aang laughed and sat down at the table. "You're probably right. Oh, Toph, I have some good news for you," he announced, the grin evident in his voice.

"Oh? It better be amazing," she replied, unenthused.

"Last night when I was talking with Chief Arnook, he said that there was only one more important meeting for Zuko and I tomorrow morning. So we should be able to head back to the Earth Kingdom sometime tomorrow afternoon," he told her.

Toph grinned at the best news she had heard all day. "Ahh, that'll be nice. I can't wait to get out of this icy hellhole," she said happily. It would be great to finally have some earth under her feet again so that she could see. She had spent far too much time in this place.

"Speaking of Zuko, where is he?" asked Katara, sitting next to Toph.

"Oh, some Fire Nation ship showed up at the docks just as you guys left. Some sort of message or something, I dunno," said Sokka vaguely. The tone of his voice said that he didn't think it was anything to worry about.

The four of them continued to make small talk through lunch. There were apparently no meetings that day for any of them to attend and everyone was taking advantage of the break by staying inside and doing absolutely nothing. Toph didn't talk too much; mostly she listened to what everyone else was saying. Once she had been satisfyingly fed and watered, she stretched her arms above her and gave a dramatic yawn.

"Well, this has been lovely. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I think I'm gonna go take a nap," she announced to the others. She could tell they all exchanged significant looks as they each mumbled things like 'alright' or 'good idea'. Toph got up from her seat and walked toward her room, listening to the audible silence that followed her. She knew they were waiting for her to get to her room so Katara could fill them in on what happened that morning, but she didn't care. It was better for them to know than to be on edge all the time, trying not to say something that would set her off.

Toph reached her room and closed her door loud enough so that the others would know that she was inside. She flopped down on her bed and curled up onto her side. Then Toph, the world's strongest earthbender, the inventor of metalbending, the infamous Blind Bandit, started to cry.

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**A/N: So how depressing is that? Sadface. Also, I claim artistic license on the use of the Spirit Water. I have no idea if that's the 'rules' for using it or whatnot. The Avatar Wiki didn't have too much to say on the subject. Also also, I'm no doctor so I also claim artistic license on the medical description of Toph's blindness. I didn't pay a lot of attention in my biology classes (luckily I changed my major before it was too late!), so I just did some basic research and that's what I came up with. If you see any holes in my logic... I am sorry.  
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**As always, thanks to everyone for the super-awesome reviews y'all give me. I'm usually encouraged to write a bit more each time I see a review which may be why this beast of a chapter got finished so quickly. Despite its depressing nature, I hope you all liked it! There will be one more after this to wrap everything up and then it will be finished. Let me know what you thought, I'd really love some feedback!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

Toph didn't realize she had actually fallen asleep until a knock on the door woke her up. Her eyes opened lazily and she rubbed the sleep out of them. She felt a pang of emotion when all she saw was darkness. _What did you expect? A belated miracle? _she thought bitterly to herself.

She muttered incoherently at the door, hoping whoever was on the other side would leave her alone. She had a headache, probably from all the crying she had done earlier. Oh, and she'd just been through the world's biggest disappointment. That may have had something to do with it as well.

Then, to her surprise, the door actually opened. Toph rolled over to face away from the door so that whoever was there wouldn't see the possible evidence of tears on her face or in her eyes. "I'm not really up to entertaining guests at the moment," she said darkly, waiting for the person to identify themselves.

She heard the door close and thought for a moment that the person had left until the sound of nearing footsteps indicated otherwise. There was silence for a moment before the person finally spoke. "Katara seems to think that you're in here having some sort of pity-party," came the voice of the almighty Fire Lord.

"I was asleep," she replied truthfully. She failed to mention that the pity-party had come before the sleep. Toph was just surprised that it was Zuko who was in her room. Why was he in here? He must have drawn the short straw in the 'someone needs to talk to her' game.

"Sorry I woke you, then," he answered, not really sounding very sorry. There was a pause. "She also thinks you're upset with her."

Toph snorted and shook her head. "Well you can go and reassure the poor Sugar Queen that I'm not mad at her," she said. She couldn't stop herself from bitterly adding, "Because we all know her feelings are the most important."

She heard a rustle of fabric as Zuko adjusted his stance slightly. Crossing his arms, maybe? She didn't know; she couldn't _see_.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," he replied, keeping his voice cool and even.

"You came to talk about Katara's feelings?" mocked Toph.

"No, I came to talk about yours," he said bluntly.

Toph frowned and narrowed her brows, which he couldn't see because she still wasn't facing him. "I don't want to talk about my _feelings_, least of all with you," she spat. Not that he wasn't a good guy or anything. She just didn't 'talk about her feelings' with anyone. And if she did, the Fire Lord would be the last person on the list of people she would even talk to.

Zuko didn't seem to take offense to the statement; he'd probably been expecting a bit of verbal abuse. "I understand," he said calmly. "Toph, I know how you're feeling…"

At that, Toph rolled over and sat up, staring straight ahead at Zuko (gaze focused somewhere just above his navel). Her face was angry and she jabbed a finger at him as she spoke. "You have _no idea _how I am feeling," she stated venomously. "You want me to tell you? I'm jolly as a sparrowkeet," she said, her voice oozing with rude sarcasm. She couldn't understand the _nerve _of him! How could he _possibly _understand _anything _that she was feeling? The fact that he was trying to relate was maddening!

He remained unfazed through her anger. "No you're not," he stated simply. "You're hurt. And I didn't say that I understand what you are going through, only that I have been in similar situations that have had similar outcomes."

"What could you have _possibly_…"

"Would you just listen for a minute, Toph?" he said, interrupting her. Toph's anger swelled even more. She wanted nothing more at this moment than to have a boulder around so she could _smash. him. flat. _She could feel the anger in her face and had half a mind to just stomp from the room. But she decided to let Zuko have his say. _Then _she would find some way to smash him.

Once he had decided that she was going to cooperate, he continued. "Don't you think that I know what it's like to want something only for it to be taken away at the last moment? To have the one thing you really want dangling right in front of you but just out of reach? I spent three years of my life like that, Toph. Always trying to get that one thing, that one thing that would make life better. And then when it finally seemed possible, when it seemed like all the pieces had finally fallen into place, it all shattered." Zuko paused, letting that all sink in.

After a moment he continued again. "And all that time I was trying to deny how badly it hurt when everything failed. If I told myself enough times that it didn't matter, that it had no effect on me, then it would eventually be true. But it never was. It still hurt. It would hurt so badly that I would spend hours and hours sparring with the men on my ship, trying to make them hurt as much as I was. But it was never enough. It took me a long time… a _really _long time… to realize I had been doing it wrong. That it was okay to be feel that pain, it was okay to be upset when things didn't go as planned. No one can just shrug off failure, especially when success would have been life-changing. The trick is being strong enough to let others in so they can help with the pain."

As Toph listened, her anger slowly ebbed away. She realized that Zuko, of all people, _would _understand… in a way. The way he explained everything made sense and gave her a new respect for the firebender. She blinked rapidly and felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hastily rubbed it off, embarrassed to be seen in such a weak state. If Zuko had noticed (and she was sure he had), he made no mention of it.

Toph was quiet for a moment, letting his words sink in. She understood what he was trying to say. But it was hard. Toph Bei Fong didn't just 'let people in'; it was against her entire nature. But these people were her friends. They had been through so much together. She remembered the rare occasions when she had opened up to her companions. They had never been upset. They had never looked down on her afterwards. In fact, it had only seemed to make their friendships stronger. She could try it, maybe. She could let her friends help. That's what they were supposed to do, right?

Mind set, she asked Zuko the most important question she could think of. "So did you write that speech or did Iroh do it?"

Zuko chuckled. "It was mostly me. I elaborated on a few things he's told me throughout the years, though."

"I knew it," said Toph, grinning in quiet triumph. "And Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For that." She had never been much of a 'thank-you' person, so Toph hoped he was appreciating what she was giving him right now.

"Of course," he replied kindly, a small smile evident in his voice. "Dinner is on the table whenever you are ready to come out," he told her. And then he was out the door.

She waited a few minutes, regaining any composure she had lost during Zuko's talk. People could tell when someone else had been crying (apparently their eyes and face looked a bit different) so she wanted to wait until the evidence, whatever it was, was gone from her own face. Toph wiped her eyes, ensuring there was no wetness there.

She could hear the quiet chatter of her friends in the other room as they enjoyed their dinner. Toph's stomach growled and it was at that moment that she decided it would be a good time to rejoin them. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the awkwardness that was surely about to follow, and then opened her bedroom door.

Conversation seemed to mostly stop as she walked out. She heard Aang pause in whatever he seemed to be saying to Sokka and then forced himself to continue speaking. She was grateful for his thoughtfulness at not completely halting all conversation.

"How'd you sleep?" asked Katara cautiously as Toph sat down.

"Alright, I suppose," she answered with a shrug. "Wish it had lasted longer, though," she commented.

"If you had kept sleeping, you wouldn't have been able to sleep at all tonight," replied Zuko offhandedly. "Besides, dinner was ready and we didn't want you to miss a meal." Toph got the impression that Zuko hadn't told the others the real reason he had gone in to speak with her.

_I have great friends_, she thought, the sudden realization hitting her like a rampaging badgermole. They were so thoughtful (most of the time), especially recently when she had been so dependent on their help. Even though they had their differences and argued every now and then (yesterday's events were still fresh in her mind), they always came back together. Like a family. Not _her _family, of course, but a perfect, ideal, real family.

"You know," she started, "you guys are great. I mean, _really _great," she told them genuinely.

"Gee, Toph, I never knew you were so sentimental about dinnertime," commented Sokka, his blundering confusion painfully obvious.

Katara, however, understood perfectly. "So you aren't mad?"

Toph shook her head. "Nah. I think I was at first, but I'm over it now." She heard Sokka whispering to Aang ("Why would she be mad about being invited to dinner? I don't get it." "I don't think she's talking about dinner, Sokka." "So she's mad Zuko woke her up?") She ignored the two boys as Aang tried to quietly explain what was _really _going on. "And it wasn't fair for me to lock myself up like that just because something didn't go the way I expected it to," she added. She wanted to get this all out before she changed her mind about being 'open' to her friends.

"You're allowed to be upset, Toph," said Katara in her usual motherly tone.

Toph nodded. "I know that. I guess I just figured out that it's okay for you guys to know that I was upset. I shouldn't try to hide that stuff from you."

"What, you think we're going to abandon you if we know you're sad or something?" asked Sokka through a mouthful of food, finally on the same page as everyone else. "Why would you think that? That's ridiculous. You're stuck with us whether you like it or not."

"That's what friends are for, after all," chimed in Aang.

Toph allowed herself a smile. Not her usual smirk, but an actual, heartfelt smile. She could tell everyone else was smiling as well. "And you can wipe that smug look off your face, Sparky, I know it's there," she commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied smugly, his voice coming from the other side of Katara. The others in the room laughed, though they didn't seem to understand what was going on between the Fire Lord and the earthbender. Toph then realized with a laugh that she had finally had her life-changing field trip with Zuko. It had been entirely unexpected and not so much of an actual field trip, but his little speech to her earlier really put things in a different perspective for her.

It seemed like something good came out of this trip after all.

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**A/N: And that's it, folks! I hope you all enjoyed the story! I know I had a good time writing it. It would mean a lot to me if you'd let me know what you thought about the whole thing; I'll even allow anonymous reviews just because I want to see what everyone thought.  
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**I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed, commented, and added this story to their favorites and alerts. This was my first fic and it was really encouraging to have such a good response from you guys. I have a few more fics in the works (including one that could be seen as an alternate ending to this one). Hopefully my writing will only improve the more I write. I look forward to (hopefully) seeing some of you again in the future! Thanks again, everyone!  
**


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